Armed with my Total Rewards Diamond status, I matched my status to M life Gold at Borgata. As I mentioned in my first installment, I didn’t have some of the better M life Gold benefits because I had been Borgata’s member before.

M life Gold benefits aren’t as good as Total Rewards Diamond, but it doesn’t mean the’re useless. Quite the contrary, they are very valuable if you travel to some MGM destinations, if only for free parking and skipping lines to clubs and restaurants. Unfortunately, M life appears to be much stingier with comp and discounted rooms than Total Rewards — although, from what I understand, their properties are more upscale in general.

MGM Resorts in Las Vegas

Bellagio

ARIA

Vdara at ARIA

MGM Grand

The Signature at MGM Grand

Mandalay Bay

Delano Las Vegas

Park MGM

NoMad Las Vegas

The Mirage

New York-New York

Luxor

Excalibur

Circus Circus

Other MGM U.S. Resorts

Borgata Atlantic City, NJ

MGM Springfield, MA

MGM National Harbor, DC

MGM Grand Detroit, MI

Beau Rivage Biloxi, MS

Gold Strike Tunica, MS

MGM Resorts in China

MGM Macau

MGM Cotai

MGM Grand Sanya

Diaoyutai Boutique Hotel Chengdu

Diaoyutai Hotel Hangzhou

Bellagio Shanghai

Notable M life Gold benefits

I’ve handpicked some of the better M life Gold benefits (the whole list is here)

Bonus on Points Earned Playing Slots: 20%

Bonus on Express Comps: 20%

Priority Hotel Check-in Line at the Front Desk

Room Upgrade (subject to availability at check-in, excludes suites)

Dedicated Line at the Buffet and Participating Restaurants

VIP Line Access to Select Nightclubs

Complimentary Valet and Self-Parking

Notable M life Borgata Atlantic City benefits

Here are the M life Rewards benefits pertaining to Atlantic City (full list)

For new members:

$100 BONUS SLOT DOLLARS or Match Play

Complimentary Stay in a Classic Room

Access to VIP Lounge

For all M life Rewards Gold members:

Complimentary self and valet parking

Access to Amphora Lounge for you and a guest for $12.50 Express Comps per person per visit

Borgata Buffet for you and a guest for $12.50 Express Comps per person per visit

Dedicated line at Metropolitan

Dedicated line at the M life Rewards Desk and Front Desk

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise benefits

Hyatt Explorist Status match

Park Hyatt Tokyo The Peak Lounge

Armed with my M life Gold tier, I went ahead and matched to Hyatt Explorist Status. Here are the Explorist highlights (and the full list):

4 Club lounge access certificates (valid on award nights, too)

20% Bonus Points on all eligible purchases

Complimentary premium Internet

Dedicated elite check in area

Upgraded room based on availability at check-in

Late 2 PM checkout

Waived resort fees on free night awards

myVEGAS Facebook and Mobile Games

You can play myVegas games for free to get Loyalty Points for free stuff at M life properties

MyVEGAS is a series of Facebook and mobile (Android and iOS) games that allows you to win “Loyalty Points.” Then you can use these points to book complimentary or discounted rooms, free meals, shows, etc. mostly (but not just) in Vegas and mostly (but not just) at MGM properties. I almost dismissed the whole thing out of hand, but then I read on one of the forums that you can run these games in the background. From what I understand you need to learn some basics in order to play these games for free (the game does “encourage” you to buy “loyalty points”) while maximizing the rewards. I haven’t figured it out yet, and I’m not 100% sure it’s worth the effort, but I felt I had to mention this option as a method of “enhancing” your trip.

Bottom Line

If you don’t see M life Gold status as a huge deal, you might be right. But it still offers quite a few important benefits (plus the Explorist status match with Hyatt), and in addition, your status will be valid until September 2019. If you think about it, MGM and Total Rewards combined properties cover the better part of the strip in Vegas and 4 casinos in Atlantic City, so having status in these 2 programs can enrich your travel greatly. If you live close to Atlantic City, consider making your way to Borgata to get a match.

Anyone knows more about M life and/or myVegas games? Share with the class! 🙂

When you upgraded to MGM Gold, did you try to get the “new member” award of $100 in free comps, free room, etc? I saw from a previous post that you weren’t able to get it. I’m already an MGM member, but I wonder if there’s any way they could accept me as a new member when I upgrade to Gold.

Hi. My name is Andy Shuman. I'm an avid traveler, a travel and credit writer, and I'm the author of the bestselling Lazy Travelers Handbook series. My message is simple. Every American with good credit can travel for free. Not just cheap, but free! READ MORE